Observations of Ship Tracks from Ship-Based Platforms

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Observations of Ship Tracks from Ship-Based Platforms JANUARY 1999 PORCH ET AL. 69 Observations of Ship Tracks from Ship-Based Platforms W. P ORCH,* R. BORYS,1 P. D URKEE,# R. GASPAROVIC,@ W. H OOPER,& E. HINDMAN,** AND K. NIELSEN# * Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 1 Atmospheric Sciences Center, Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada # Department of Meteorology, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California @ The Johns Hopkins University, APL, Laurel, Maryland & Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. ** Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department, City College of New York, New York, New York (Manuscript received 17 October 1997, in ®nal form 17 February 1998) ABSTRACT Ship-based measurements in June 1994 provided information about ship-track clouds and associated atmo- spheric environment observed from below cloud levels that provide a perspective different from satellite and aircraft measurements. Surface measurements of latent and sensible heat ¯uxes, sea surface temperatures, and meteorological pro®les with free and tethered balloons provided necessary input conditions for models of ship- track formation and maintenance. Remote sensing measurements showed a coupling of ship plume dynamics and entrainment into overlaying clouds. Morphological and dynamic effects were observed on clouds unique to the ship tracks. These morphological changes included lower cloud bases early in the ship-track formation, evidence of raised cloud bases in more mature tracks, sometimes higher cloud tops, thin cloud-free regions paralleling the tracks, and often stronger radar returns. The ship-based lidar aerosol measurements revealed that ship plumes often interacted with the overlying clouds in an intermittent rather than continuous manner. These observations imply that more must be learned about ship-track dynamics before simple relations between cloud condensation nuclei and cloud brightness can be developed. 1. Introduction This is due to the subtle boundary layer cloud pertur- bations that may trigger ship tracks and the dif®culty Ship-track clouds were ®rst described by Conover in measuring these perturbations. The marine environ- (1966) as anomalous cloud lines observed in satellite ment associated with ship tracks represents extremes images. These cloud lines can extend for hundreds of with respect to low concentrations of cloud condensa- kilometers and persist for several days. Multiple obser- tion nuclei (CCN) and the lack of surface temperature vations made from a small research vessel (R/V Glorita) during the Monterey Area Ship Tracks (MAST) exper- and roughness differences associated with convective iment in June 1994 are combined to describe the phys- turbulence effects in clouds. Numerical models that go ical and dynamic characteristics of ship-track clouds. A beyond most plume rise and dispersion models can be wide variety of aerosol and meteorological parameters useful in understanding the sensitivity of marine strat- were simultaneously measured from the R/V Glorita iform clouds to CCN and turbulence effects. Innis et al. with aircraft ¯ights. The focus of the surface, airborne, (1998, manuscript submitted to J. Atmos. Sci.) calculate and satellite studies during MAST was to improve the that temperature differences as small as 0.18C can in- characterization of aerosol microphysical properties and crease cloud-level aerosol concentrations by over a fac- cloud dynamic processes in ship tracks (MAST 1994). tor of 2 in decoupled boundary layer conditions. Sys- Only a few studies of the in situ characteristics of tematic vertical velocities as low as a few centimeters ship tracks have been carried out. In studies to date, per second and/or associated air temperature increases emphasis has been on the aerosol microphysical char- of less than 1 K have produced modi®cations of marine acteristics of ship tracks (Ackerman et al. 1993; Al- boundary layer clouds in a statistical±dynamic numer- brecht et al. 1989; Radke et al. 1989; Ferek et al. 1998), ical model that mimic many of the morphological and while cloud dynamic aspects have been largely ignored. cloud liquid water characteristics associated with ship tracks (Porch et al. 1990). Important measurements were made during the MAST experiment from the R/V Glorita. Vertical pro- Corresponding author address: William M. Porch, Atmospheric ®les of background meteorological parameters (needed Physicist, D-407, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545. as input to numerical models simulating ship tracks) E-mail: [email protected] were obtained from both rawinsonde and tethered bal- q 1999 American Meteorological Society Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/02/21 06:02 PM UTC 70 JOURNAL OF APPLIED METEOROLOGY VOLUME 38 loons launched from the R/V Glorita (Syrett 1994). to about 500 m in the case of the USS Truxton and USS Also, surface properties such as sea surface tempera- Mount Vernon. Larger diesel ships within a few hundred tures and heat and moisture ¯uxes were obtained from kilometers of the USS Truxton and USS Mount Vernon measurements on the ship. Surface aerosol properties did make a visible ship track. More detailed information and lidar measurements of the interaction of ship plumes on these ships and their emissions is given by Hobbs and marine boundary layer clouds were made from the et al. (1998, manuscript submitted to J. Atmos. Sci.). ship (Hooper and James 1998, manuscript submitted to The instruments aboard the R/V Glorita consisted of J. Atmos. Sci.). Measurements of cloud bottom heights shipborne and balloon-borne sensors (Table 2). Ship- related to ship-track clouds were measured from the ship borne acoustic, optical, and microwave sensors probed with commercial ceilometers. the boundary layer far from the in¯uence of the ship Research vessel±based measurements of atmospheric and high surface winds. In situ shipborne measurement parameters associated with ship tracks have several ad- systems included a tower for measuring heat and water vantages over aircraft measurements, such as the re- vapor ¯uxes, coupled with a ¯oating sea surface tem- search vessel being stationed for long periods at sea. perature measuring device, plus visible and infrared ra- Consequently, data were obtained on the evolution of diometry operated by the NOAA Environmental Re- conditions leading to ship-track formation during the search Laboratories (ERL) (Fairall et al. 1997). The tow- day and at night. A ship-based experiment, called SEA- er was located near the bow of the ship and was about HUNT, was performed in 1991 off the coast of Southern 6 m above the deck (10 m above sea level) to avoid as California and northern Mexico to study ship tracks and much as possible the effect of the ship's air wake. The other external forcing on marine boundary layer clouds instrumentation included global positioning system (Hindman et al. 1994). This experiment documented the (GPS) position detection and mast motion sensors to ®rst surface observation of a ship-track cloud that was account for translation and rotation effects on the hor- known to be a ship-track cloud simultaneously observed izontal wind and vertical velocities needed for eddy cor- by satellite. relation and estimates of bulk heat and water vapor In this paper, we report on the in situ and remote ¯uxes. measurement system results aboard the R/V Glorita dur- In situ measurements of aerosol characteristics were ing the MAST experiment. Data from these sensors are made using a sampling on the ship's mast connected to combined to characterize the physical and dynamic instrumentation in a cabin 20 m below. In situ mea- structure of ambient and ship-affected clouds. surements of aerosol characteristics were made using a 5-cm-diameter sampling tube 6 m up the ship's mast connected to instrumentation in a cabin 14 m below. 2. Ship-based measurements during MAST The analysis of the aerosol sampled from the ship's mast The most important component of the ship-based included condensation nuclei (CN), CCN, spectra (Hud- measurements in MAST was the research ship and its son and Li 1995), and aerosol size distributions from deployment with respect to dedicated navy ships and diffusion battery measurements. A limited number (12) ships of opportunity that affected marine stratiform of aerosol ®lter samples were taken from a sampler at- clouds during MAST. A complete description of the tached to the ship's high mast. A nephelometer also was aircraft and ship operations, a description of the physical located on the mast. and power plants including the trajectory of each of the In situ balloon-borne sensors measured meteorolog- dedicated ships, and what is known about the ships of ical parameters. These included conventional tempera- opportunity can be found in Gasporivic (1995). In this ture, humidity, and wind pro®ling sensors for rawin- paper we will focus on the dedicated navy ships USS sonde and tethered balloons. Rawinsondes were Safeguard and USS Mt. Vernon; and on ships of op- launched every 3 h during potential ship track periods. portunity on 12, 27, and 28 June when ship tracks and Active remote sensing instruments included a scan- clouds that had been affected by ships that passed over ning lidar, which was mainly dedicated to studies of the research vessel. Figure 1 shows the ship tracks as ship plume and background aerosol inhomogeneities detected in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- and their transport and interaction with boundary layer ministration/Advanced Very High Resolution Radiom- clouds (Hooper and James 1998, manuscript submitted eter (NOAA/AVHRR) channel 3 satellite images for to J. Atmos. Sci.). Two commercial lidar±ceilometers these three days. An overview of information on the were mounted to the deck for continuous determination ships that produced many of the features in Fig. 1 are of cloud bottom heights and backscatter. The Pennsyl- given in Table 1. These ships varied in fuel type and vania State University (PSU) system was pointed ver- amount consumed from diesel, steam turbine, and nu- tically and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) clear.
Recommended publications
  • Marine Cloud Brightening
    MARINE CLOUD BRIGHTENING Alan Gadian , John Latham, Mirek Andrejczuk, Keith Bower, Tom Choularton, Hugh Coe, Paul Connolly, Ben Parkes, Phillip Rasch, Stephen Salter, Hailong Wang and Rob Wood . Contents:- • Background to the philosophical approach • Some L.E.M . and climate model results • Technological issues. • Future plans and publications. Science Objectives:- • To explain the science of how stratocumulus clouds can have a significant effect on the earth’s radiation balance • To present some modelling results from Latham et al 2011 Marine Cloud Brightening, WRCP October 2011 1 Stratocumulus clouds cover more than 30% of ocean surface Stratocumulus clouds have a high reflectance, which depends on droplet number and mean droplet size. Twomey Effect .:- Smaller drops produce whiter clouds . Proposal :- To advertently to enhance the droplet concentration N in low-level maritime stratocumulus clouds, so increasing cloud albedo (Twomey, JAS, 1977 ) and longevity ( Albrecht, Science, 1989 ) Technique:- To disseminate sea-water droplets of diameter about 1um at the ocean surface. Some of these ascend via turbulence to cloud-base where they are activated to form cloud droplets, thereby enhancing cloud droplet number concentration, N (Latham, Nature 1990 ; Phil Trans Roy Soc 2008 and 2011, under review ) 2 Above:- Computed spherical albedo for increasing pollution in THIN, MEDIUM and THICK clouds. ( Twomey, JAS, 1977 ) Right:- Frequency distributions of the reflectances at 1,535 nm versus reflectances at 754 nm. From ACE-2. Isolines of geometrical thickness (H) and droplet number concentration (N): higher reflectance in polluted cloud, normalised by a similar geometrical thickness (Brenguier et al. 2000 ). 3 Figure 1. Panel (a): Map of MODIS-derived annual mean cloud droplet concentration N 0 for stratiform marine warm clouds.
    [Show full text]
  • Studying Geoengineering with Natural and Anthropogenic Analogs
    Studying Geoengineering with Natural and Anthropogenic Analogs Alan Robocka, Douglas G. MacMartinb, Riley Durenc, and Matthew W. Christensend aDepartment of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 bControl and Dynamical Systems, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125 cJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109 dDepartment of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 Submitted to Climatic Change November 2012 Corresponding Author: Alan Robock Department of Environmental Sciences Rutgers University 14 College Farm Road New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Phone: 848-932-5751 Fax: 732-932-8644 E-mail: [email protected] 1 Abstract 2 Solar radiation management (SRM) has been proposed as a possible option for offsetting 3 some anthropogenic radiative forcing, with the goal of reducing some of the associated climatic 4 changes. There are clearly significant uncertainties associated with SRM, and even small-scale 5 experiments that might reduce uncertainty would carry some risk. However, there are also 6 natural and anthropogenic analogs to SRM, such as volcanic eruptions in the case of 7 stratospheric aerosol injection and ship tracks in the case of marine cloud albedo modification. It 8 is essential to understand what we can learn from these analogs in order to validate models, 9 particularly because of the problematic nature of outdoor experiments. It is also important to 10 understand what we cannot learn, as this might better focus attention on what risks would need to 11 be solely examined by numerical models. Stratospheric conditions following a major volcanic 12 eruption, for example, are not the same as those to be expected from intentional geoengineering, 13 both because of confounding effects of volcanic ash and the differences between continuous and 14 impulsive injection of material into the stratosphere.
    [Show full text]
  • Study on Local Cloud Coverage Using Ground-Based Measurement of Solar Radiation
    Study on Local Cloud Coverage Using Ground-Based Measurement of Solar Radiation Sweata Sijapati Study on Local Cloud Coverage Using Ground-Based Measurement of Solar Radiation Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor at Ehime University By Sweata Sijapati June 2016 Advisor: Professor Ryo Moriwaki Dedicated to my parents It’s your support and motivation that has made me stronger CERTIFICATION This is to certify that the dissertation entitled, “Study on Local Cloud Coverage Using Ground-Based Measurement of Solar Radiation” presented by Ms. Sijapati Sweata in partial fulfillment of the academic requirement of the degree of doctor has been examined and accepted by the evaluation committee at Graduate School of Science and Engineering of Ehime University. …………………………………. Ryo Moriwaki Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Thesis Advisor / Examiner 1 …………………………………. ……………. of Civil and Environmental Engineering Examiner 2 …………………………………. ……………. of Civil and Environmental Engineering Examiner 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... IX LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ XV LIST OF ABBREVIATION .......................................................................................... XVI LIST OF SYMBOL ....................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Atmospheric Downwelling Longwave Radiation at the Surface During Cloudless and Overcast Conditions. Measurements and Modeling
    ATMOSPHERIC DOWNWELLING LONGWAVE RADIATION AT THE SURFACE DURING CLOUDLESS AND OVERCAST CONDITIONS. MEASUREMENTS AND MODELING Antoni VIÚDEZ-MORA ISBN: 978-84-694-5001-7 Dipòsit legal: GI-752-2011 http://hdl.handle.net/10803/31841 ADVERTIMENT. La consulta d’aquesta tesi queda condicionada a l’acceptació de les següents condicions d'ús: La difusió d’aquesta tesi per mitjà del servei TDX ha estat autoritzada pels titulars dels drets de propietat intel·lectual únicament per a usos privats emmarcats en activitats d’investigació i docència. No s’autoritza la seva reproducció amb finalitats de lucre ni la seva difusió i posada a disposició des d’un lloc aliè al servei TDX. No s’autoritza la presentació del seu contingut en una finestra o marc aliè a TDX (framing). Aquesta reserva de drets afecta tant al resum de presentació de la tesi com als seus continguts. En la utilització o cita de parts de la tesi és obligat indicar el nom de la persona autora. ADVERTENCIA. La consulta de esta tesis queda condicionada a la aceptación de las siguientes condiciones de uso: La difusión de esta tesis por medio del servicio TDR ha sido autorizada por los titulares de los derechos de propiedad intelectual únicamente para usos privados enmarcados en actividades de investigación y docencia. No se autoriza su reproducción con finalidades de lucro ni su difusión y puesta a disposición desde un sitio ajeno al servicio TDR. No se autoriza la presentación de su contenido en una ventana o marco ajeno a TDR (framing). Esta reserva de derechos afecta tanto al resumen de presentación de la tesis como a sus contenidos.
    [Show full text]
  • Automated Underway Oceanic and Atmospheric Measurements from Ships
    AUTOMATED UNDERWAY OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS FROM SHIPS Shawn R. Smith (1), Mark A. Bourassa (1), E. Frank Bradley (2), Catherine Cosca (3), Christopher W. Fairall (4), Gustavo J. Goni (5), John T. Gunn (6), Maria Hood (7), Darren L. Jackson (8), Elizabeth C. Kent (9), Gary Lagerloef (6), Philip McGillivary (10), Loic Petit de la Villéon (11), Rachel T. Pinker (12), Eric Schulz (13), Janet Sprintall (14), Detlef Stammer (15), Alain Weill (16), Gary A. Wick (17), Margaret J. Yelland (9) (1) Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-2840, USA, Emails: [email protected], [email protected] (2) CSIRO Land and Water, PO Box 1666, Canberra, ACT 2601, AUSTRALIA, Email: [email protected] (3) NOAA/PMEL, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115, USA, Email: [email protected] (4) NOAA/ESRL/PSD, R/PSD3, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305-3328, USA, Email: [email protected] (5) USDC/NOAA/AOML/PHOD, 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA, Email: [email protected] (6) Earth and Space Research, 2101 Fourth Ave., Suite 1310, Seattle, WA, 98121, USA, Emails: [email protected], [email protected] (7) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission UNESCO, 1, rue Miollis, 75732 Paris Cedex 15, FRANCE, Email: [email protected] (8) Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, NOAA/ESRL/PSD, 325 Broadway, R/PSD2, Boulder, CO 80305, USA, Email: [email protected] (9) National Oceanography Centre, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK, Emails: [email protected],
    [Show full text]
  • (JAWS) Project RESEARCH INVESTIGATORS: John Mccarthy
    TITLE : The Joint Airport Weather Studies (JAWS) Project .---RESEARCH INVESTIGATORS:- John McCarthy and James Wilson Field Observing Facility National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder, CO 80307 Dr. T. Theodore Fujita Dept. of Geophysical Sciences University of Chicago Chicago, IL 60637 SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENT TO DATE IN FY-83: The Joint Airport Weather Studies (JAWS) Project, formed in 1980, conducted a major field investigation during the summer of 1982 (15 May to 13 August, inclusive) in and around Denver, Colorado. The project is jointly conducted by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Chicago. The principal objective of JAWS was to examine convectively driven downdrafts and result- ing outflows near the earth’s surface known as microbursts, a term coined by Dr. Fujita of the University of Chicago, Microbursts can be lethal for jet aircraft on takeoff or landing because of the extreme magnitude of the flows. The JAWS effort has concentrated on three aspects of microburst-induced, low- level wind shear: basic scientific investigation of microburst origins, lifecycles, and velocity structures; various aspects of aircraft performance, including numerical’ models, manned flight simulators, instrumented research aircraft response, and operational air carrier performance; and low-level wind shear detection and warning using surface sensing, airborne systems, and radar sensing. The data collection phase was truly extraordinary. Of 91 possible operational days, 75 had convective weather on which at least one of 38 pre-planned JAWS experiments could be conducted. We expected to observe 10 to 12 microbursts with more than one Doppler radar, but saw 87! We collected many data sets not only on wind shear events but on mesocyclones, tornadoes, gust fronts, hailstorms, and flash floods.
    [Show full text]
  • The Monterey Area Ship Track Experiment
    Calhoun: The NPS Institutional Archive Faculty and Researcher Publications Faculty and Researcher Publications 2000-08-15 The Monterey Area Ship Track Experiment Durkee, Philip A. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 57, 15 August 2000, pp. 2523-2541. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/46745 15 AUGUST 2000 DURKEE ET AL. 2523 The Monterey Area Ship Track Experiment PHILIP A. DURKEE Department of Meteorology, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California KEVIN J. NOONE Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden ROBERT T. B LUTH Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Virginia (Manuscript received 14 November 1996, in final form 23 February 1999) ABSTRACT In June 1994 the Monterey Area Ship Track (MAST) experiment was conducted off the coast of California to investigate the processes behind anthropogenic modification of cloud albedo. The motivation for the MAST experiment is described here, as well as details of the experimental design. Measurement platforms and strategies are explained, and a summary of experiment operations is presented. The experiment produced the largest dataset to date of direct measurements of the effects of ships on the microphysics and radiative properties of marine stratocumulus clouds as an analog for the indirect effects of anthropogenic pollution on cloud albedo. 1. Introduction ever, the upper limit of the indirect aerosol forcing es­ timate was 21.5 W m22. Clearly, reducing the uncer­ Determining the effects of atmospheric aerosol par­ tainty in, or even arriving at, a central value for the ticles on the radiative balance of the earth has been a estimates of the indirect radiative effect of aerosols is major focus of recent climate research.
    [Show full text]
  • Experimental Studies on Particle Emissions from Cruising Ship, Their Characteristic Properties, Transformation and Atmospheric Lifetime in the Marine Boundary Layer
    Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 2387–2403, 2008 www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/2387/2008/ Atmospheric © Author(s) 2008. This work is distributed under Chemistry the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. and Physics Experimental studies on particle emissions from cruising ship, their characteristic properties, transformation and atmospheric lifetime in the marine boundary layer A. Petzold1, J. Hasselbach1, P. Lauer2, R. Baumann1, K. Franke3, C. Gurk4, H. Schlager1, and E. Weingartner5 1Dt. Zentrum fur¨ Luft- und Raumfahrt, Inst. fur¨ Physik der Atmosphare,¨ Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling, Germany 2MAN Diesel SE, Stadtbachstr. 1, 86135 Augsburg, Germany 3Institute for Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany 4Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Johann-Joachim-Becher-Weg 27, 55128 Mainz, Germany 5Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland Received: 9 October 2007 – Published in Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss.: 19 October 2007 Revised: 17 March 2008 – Accepted: 15 April 2008 – Published: 6 May 2008 Abstract. Particle emissions from ship engines and their ship exhaust particle number concentrations in an expanding atmospheric transformation in the marine boundary layer plume, a maximum plume life time of approx. 24 h is esti- (MBL) were investigated in engine test bed studies and in mated for a well-mixed marine boundary layer. airborne measurements of expanding ship plumes. During the test rig studies, detailed aerosol microphysical and chem- ical properties were measured in the exhaust gas of a serial 1 Introduction MAN B&W seven-cylinder four-stroke marine diesel engine under various load conditions. The emission studies were Shipping represents a major contribution to the international complemented by airborne aerosol transformation studies in transportation sector which, however, is not well quantified the plume of a large container ship in the English Chan- in terms of global emissions and climate impacts.
    [Show full text]
  • Contrails, Contrail Cirrus, and Ship Tracks
    214 Proceedings of the TAC-Conference, June 26 to 29, 2006, Oxford, UK Contrails, contrail cirrus, and ship tracks K. Gierens* DLR-Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany Keywords: Aerosol effects on clouds and climate ABSTRACT: The following text is an enlarged version of the conference tutorial lecture on con- trails, contrail cirrus, and ship tracks. I start with a general introduction into aerosol effects on clouds. Contrail formation and persistence, aviation’s share to cirrus trends and ship tracks are treated then. 1 INTRODUCTION The overarching theme above the notions “contrails”, “contrail cirrus”, and “ship tracks” is the ef- fects of anthropogenic aerosol on clouds and on climate via the cloud’s influence on the flow of ra- diation energy in the atmosphere. Aerosol effects are categorised in the following way: - Direct effect: Aerosol particles scatter and absorb solar and terrestrial radiation, that is, they in- terfere directly with the radiative energy flow through the atmosphere (e.g. Haywood and Boucher, 2000). - Semidirect effect: Soot particles are very effective absorbers of radiation. When they absorb ra- diation the ambient air is locally heated. When this happens close to or within clouds, the local heating leads to buoyancy forces, hence overturning motions are induced, altering cloud evolu- tion and potentially lifetimes (e.g. Hansen et al., 1997; Ackerman et al., 2000). - Indirect effects: The most important role of aerosol particles in the atmosphere is their role as condensation and ice nuclei, that is, their role in cloud formation. The addition of aerosol parti- cles to the natural aerosol background changes the formation conditions of clouds, which leads to changes in cloud occurrence frequencies, cloud properties (microphysical, structural, and op- tical), and cloud lifetimes (e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • Marine Cloud Brightening
    MARINE CLOUD BRIGHTENING Authors:- John Latham1,4 , Keith Bower4 , Tom Choularton4 , Hugh Coe4, Paul Connelly4 , Gary Cooper7 ,Tim Craft4, Jack Foster7, Alan Gadian5, Lee Galbraith7 Hector Iacovides4 , David Johnston7 , Brian Launder4, Brian Leslie7 , John Meyer7, Armand Neukermans7, Bob Ormond7, Ben Parkes5 , Phillip Rasch3, John Rush7, Stephen Salter6, Tom Stevenson6, Hailong Wang3, Qin Wang7 & Rob Wood2 . Affiliations:- 1 National Centre for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO. 2 U Washington, Seattle, 3 PNNL, Richland, WA., 4 U Manchester, 5 U of Leeds, 6 U of Edinburgh, 7 Silver Lining, CA. Abstract The idea behind the marine cloud brightening (MCB) geoengineering technique is that seeding marine stratocumulus clouds with copious quantities of roughly monodisperse sub-micrometre seawater particles could significantly enhance the cloud droplet number concentration thus increasing the cloud albedo and longevity – thereby producing a cooling, which computations suggest could be adequate to balance the warming associated with a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide. We review herein recent research on a number of critical issues associated with MCB: (1) general circulation model (GCM) studies, which are our primary tools to evaluate globally the effectiveness of marine cloud brightening and to assess its climate impacts on rainfall amounts and distribution, as well as on polar sea-ice cover and thickness: (2) high resolution modeling of the effects of seeding on marine stratocumulus, which are required to understand the complex array
    [Show full text]
  • N ASA/MSFC FY-83 Atmospheric Research Review
    NASA j CP 2288 /- NASA Conference Publication 2288 c.1 ! 5-j / ii N ASA/MSFC FY-83 Atmospheric Research Review LOAN COPY: RETURN TO AFWL TECHNICAL L!BR.&i KIRTLAND AFB, N.M. 27117 Summary qf a program review held at Huntsville, Alabama May 24-25, 1983 25th Anniversary 1958-1983 TECH LIBRARY KAFB, NM oo?i9244 NASA Con.ference Pubcumccurc &Y-U NASA/MSFC FY-83 Atmospheric Research Review Com.piled by Robert E. Turner and Dennis W. Camp George C. Marshall Space Flight Center Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama Summary of a program review held at Hunteville, Alabama May 24-25, 1983 NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Branch 1983 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction . 1 B-57B Gust Gradient Program (Warren Campbell and Dennis W. Camp) . 3 The Joint Airport Weather Studies (JAWS) Project (John McCarthy, James Wilson, and T. Theodore Fujita) . 5 Development of an Operational Specific CAT Risk (SCATR) Index (John L. Keller, Patrick A. Haines, and James K. Luers) . 11 Workshop - Electrostatic Fog Dispersal (M. H . Davis) . 13 Warm Fog Dispersal (Walter Frost and K. H. Huang) . 14 Low-Level Gust Gradient Program and Aviation Workshop Effort (Walter Frost, Ming-Chang Lin, Linda W. Hershman, Dennis W. Camp, and Warren Campbell) . 16 Feasibility Study of a Procedure to Detect and Warn of Low-Level Wind Shear (Walter Frost and Dennis W. Camp) . 18 Doppler Lidar Signal and Turbulence Study (Walter Frost, K. H . Huang, and Dan F. Fitzjarrald) . 20 Low-Level Flow Conditions Hazardous to Aircraft (Margaret B . Alexander and Dennis W.
    [Show full text]
  • Process-Modeling Study of Ship Tracks and Marine Cloud Brightening
    Process-Modeling Study of Ship Tracks and Marine Cloud Brightening Hailong Wang Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Monitoring of Geoengineering Effects and their Natural and Anthropogenic Analogues (Part II) Workshop November 16, 2011 California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Acknowledgments Keck Institute for Space Studies Collaborators: Graham Feingold (NOAA) Phil Rasch (PNNL) Funding support: CIRES Fellowship NOAA Climate Program University of Calgary (Canada), FICER PNNL/DOE 2 Outline Introduction Simulation of shiptrack in open and closed cells (Wang and Feingold, 2009b) Marine cloud brightening by sea-salt injection (Wang, Rasch, Feingold, 2011; Wang et al., in preparation) Summary and issues for discussion 3 Introduction Geoengineering: deliberate manipulation of the Earth’s climate to counteract the effect of global warming by GHGs Solar radiation management Marine cloud albedo enhancement Seawater spray Ocean sulfur cycle enhancement Stratospheric aerosols Cool roof space shade Cirrus cloud seeding GHG removal Limiting arctic sea ice loss Ocean heat transport 4 About the seawater spray method Latham (1990, 2002) proposed injecting submicron sea-salt particles to increase marine Sc cloud albedo to offset the -2 +3.7 Wm forcing from 2xCO2 Salter et al. (2008) proposed a wind-driven sprayer that can produce sea-salt to increase CDNC by 200 cm-3 The idea was evaluated by a few global/box modeling studies (e.g., Bower et al. 2006; Latham et al. 2008; Jones et al. 2009; Rasch et al. 2009; Korhonen et al. 2010; Bala et al. 2010) Process modeling is needed to understand the transport of injected particles and interactions with clouds 5 Motivation Credit : Jeff Schmaltz Ship exhaust NASA/GSFC modifies marine Scu cloud albedo.
    [Show full text]